The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to latches for electrical connectors.
Electrical connectors often include latches for latching the electrical connector to another device, such as, but not limited to, another connector. For example, one particular example is a pluggable transceiver module that includes a latch used to secure the pluggable transceiver module in a cage receptacle.
Known latches for electrical connectors are not without disadvantages. For example, at least some known latches for electrical connectors are bulky and may occupy more space than is desired on a housing of the electrical connector. By occupying valuable housing space, such known latches may increase the overall size of the electrical connector, harm the form factor of the electrical connector, and/or harm the aesthetics of the electrical connector. Additionally, known latches include many component parts, such as separate actuators, latch pins and/or auto-return springs that bias the latch to the latched position. Providing multiple components increases manufacturing costs and complexity as well as assembly time and thus assembly cost. Furthermore, having multiple pieces causes reliability issues where the parts interact and when one or more of the parts fail.
A need remains for an electrical connector latch that is less costly and more reliable than known connector latches.